Eklund-Gomes couples 53W53 open house with magazine launch

Top-selling brokers feted quarterly venture at MoMA Tower

Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes (The Society Group, 53w53)
Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes (The Society Group, 53w53)

UPDATED, Sept. 23, 2022, 3:30 p.m.: Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes’ team are no strangers to luxury open houses, but a gathering by the brokers this week played double duty to launch a new project.

The founding members of Douglas Elliman’s top-selling Eklund-Gomes Team held a party Thursday night at 53 West 53rd Street to debut Estate, a digital luxury lifestyle magazine.

Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes (The Society Group)

Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes (The Society Group)

Roughly 100 people gathered for a boozy party in a full-floor unit on the building’s 65th floor. Along with sweeping views of the Midtown skyline, guests enjoyed hors d’oeuvres from 53, the development’s in-house restaurant.

The party served wasn’t just to kick back and celebrate: the Eklund-Gomes Team is one of the teams charged with selling the building, and tours were offered of the half-floor unit on the floor below.

The Eklund-Gomes Team (The Society Group)

The Eklund-Gomes Team (The Society Group)

The theme of the 150-page quarterly magazine’s inaugural edition is “the future.” Ten people were behind the content in the first issue, which ranges in focus from agent spotlights to trend pieces on interior design, travel and NFTs.

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While not all of the content included in Estate will be about real estate, Gomes said the venture is ultimately about selling homes.

“We had this concept of coming up with this magazine to sort of give people this opportunity to peak into the lives of Eklund-Gomes agents,” he said. “There’s also advertising of our listings, so it gives us a unique sort of way to put our listings in front of people.”

The launch party not only doubled as an open house, but also wasn’t the team’s only event of the day. That afternoon, the team celebrated the opening of their new West Village office, a 1,100-square-foot space on Bank Street.

The flexible workplace is a tick down from 10,000-square-foot office at 936 Broadway, and will serve as a hub for agents to hot desk. The move makes the team the latest addition to residential brokerages backing the death of the traditional office.

This article has been updated to reflect the Eklund-Gomes Team is working in sales for the entire building, not just the 63rd-floor unit.